The Tale of the Two Brothers
by Kreiterhex
Summary: First fanfiction ever and I'm not a native speaker, so I'm really grateful for feedback. Jane, who was educated at home, decides to do her N.E.W.T.s at Hogwarts, the school the boy she had loved had gone to before he had died in the Battle of Hogwarts. What will it be like to meet his friends he had told her so much about there? Things get even more complicated when she meets
1. Chapter 1

Her trunk was nearly completely packed. She took the last pile of books and spare sheets from her otherwise empty deskwhen an envelope fell to the floor. One short look on the address was enough to recognize whose letter it was. The handwriting wasshaky and a bit messy. She seated herself on her already emptied bed and reread the letter for what felt like the hundredth.

 _My lovely Jane,_

 _I'm so sorry for the loss of your parents. I really wish I would have been able to meet them. Or that, at least, I could be with you right now as your partner should be in times of need. I wish I could just pack my stuff and travel to Austria to be with you, even if it's just for a few days. It's been too long since I last could make you smile and actually hear you giggle. But I just can't leave my family and friends right now. I don't know how bad it is where you live or how much news you get about the battle that's going to come here, but You-Know-Who and his followers are getting stronger and they've even taken over Hogwarts. Harry, Ron and Hermione are still missing, but I know they'll come back._

 _I hope you understand that and that you're willing to wait a little bit longer. I promise you that I'll visit you as soon as all this is over and then I'll finally take you back home to introduce you to my family._

 _I love you._

He had forgotten to add his name at the bottom, but the handwriting couldn't be mistaken for somebody else's. Jane whiped a tear from her cheek and put the letter back in the envelope. The letter was dated 13th February 1998 and it was the last one she'd received. At first she thought that he was too busy or simply had forgotten her, but after the Battle of Hogwarts, she had seen an article in the _Daily Prophet_ listing the names of the fallen witches and wizards. She hadn't expected to see anyone she knew and skimmed over it while reading the other headlines, but somehow she had recognized his name while skim scanning the page. At first she had thought her eyes had been misleading her, but his name was right there, there at the bottom of the list. At first she hadn't wanted to believe it, she couldn't believe it. She had gotten on with her normal life for the first few days but suddenly, while sitting at home drinking tea and rereading the list, truth had hit her and she realized she'd never see boy she fell in love with again.

She had still gone to university every morning and locked herself in her flat for the rest of the day. It seemed like she had been living in a sort of trance ever since. She couldn't even really cry any more as there weren't any more tears left. About a week ago she had decided that it couldn't go on like that any more. He wouldn't have wanted her to live a life like that. So she had sent a letter to Hogwarts as her parents had always told her to when they were still alive. Her family had to move to Austria as they weren't save any more in Great Britain during the first up-rise of Voldemort. Her father has always been ashamed of the fact that he had to leave his friends behind but he had known that it was the only way to save his family. He still hadn't stopped fighting Voldemort's followers, though, as there were also some spread across the European mainland, which had cost him not only his life, but the life of her mother as well.

Before their deaths, she had been educated by her parents at home for six years, they had always wanted her to take her N.E.W.T.s in Hogwarts when she was older. They had even gone so far as to discuss her studies with Albus Dumbledore, the previous headmaster of Hogwarts, prior to them leaving the country. He had assured them that there wouldn't be any problems She had decided otherwise as she wanted to study at a Muggle university in Austria to become a teacher. But now after all that had happened she had decided that she had to change something in her life.

With her parents' wishes in mind, she had written a letter to Professor Minerva McGonagall, the new Headmistress of Hogwarts. She had asked her if she could do her final year at Hogwarts to do her N.E.W.T.s. She hadn't thought McGonagall would accept. It had been many years since her parents and Dumbledore spoke of the arrangement, so she wasn't sure that McGonagall would know anything of the plans and after all, term was starting in just three short weeks. But two days ago her black owl had come back from Hogwarts with a letter. It was the same acceptance letter magical children usually get when they are eleven years old. Her parents had told her a lot about their time at Hogwarts and had even shown her the acceptance letter they got shortly before their eleventh birthday. The envelope bore the Hogwarts emblem: The letter "H" surrouned by four animals, each displaying one of the four Hogwarts houses. A lion for Gryffindor, a badger for Hufflepuff, an eagle for Ravenclaw and a serpent for Slytherin. Each house represents different values and every first year students is sorted in to one of the houses by an old magic hat. She didn't remember all the stories her parents told her about Hogwarts when she was a child, but she had never forgotten how the sorting works as she had always been wondering which house she would have gotten sorted to if she went to Hogwarts. The envelope contained the acceptance letter telling her that term would start on September 1st and a list with things she'd need.

She had immediately quit university and packed everything she owned and thought useful in her trunk. She'd have to get most things in Diagon Alley anyway, like her school robes or books. Her stomach twisted at the thought of Diagon Alley. Tomorrow she'd be standing on the same spot where she'd met him more than a year ago. In front of the same shop window she had been admiring before he'd asked her if she needed anything. She remembered every second of that moment. The embarrassing moment, when she'd realized that she was just looking at his stunning smile, smiling back at him but not saying a single word... She forced her thoughts back to her room, she didn't have time to think about the past now, as her flight would depart in three hours time. So she closed her trunk, took the empty owl cage (she had already send her owl to Hogwarts as she didn't want to have any problems at the airport), grabbed her tickets and left her flat. Leaving it all behind wasn't really hard as she didn't have anything or anything left at "home", but she was still anxious about what awaited her at Hogwarts. Would the other students accept her or would she remain the new girl? What will it be like standing where he stood, walking where he walked, when all she wished for during the last year was to be there with him together? She sighed. "I guess I will find out soon enough."


	2. Back in Diagon Alley

It was still early afternoon when she left her hotel in London, so she'd decided to do the first round of shopping in Diagon Alley today. As soon as she stepped out of the entrance hall, she had to pull her cloak closer as she felt the chilly wind which was typical for London. She entered the Leaky Cauldron, a pub which marked the connection between Muggle London and the wizarding world as the entrance to Diagon Alley is situated at its backyard, and immediately felt like being taken into a completely different work. Living amongst muggles she was used to do everything the muggle way, even at home, and now she was surrounded by people who used magic for nearly everything. There was a rather shabby looking man reading his newspaper while his tea was stirring itself and dirty plates and mugs were floating into the kitchen on their own – just with a whip of the waiter's wand. She must have looked rather stupid for the other costumers because she wore a broad smile on her lips and couldn't take the eyes of the simplest spells that were performed around her. After a few more minutes she was able to get herself to move on. She stepped out in the backyard, took out her wand and tapped the bricks on the wall in a certain order, as her father had shown her more than ten years ago. After she had touched the last brick, the bricks started to move and soon left a big gap in the wall which revealed the crowded street behind. Though she had been in Diagon Alley last year she was impressed like it was the first time. There were all kind of shops along both sides of the street – shops for books, school robes, pets, potion ingredients and even one for Quidditch supplies, a sport played on broomsticks which was very popular in the wizarding world. As the serious shopping business could wait a little longer she decided to head for the latter. She had never played or even seen Quidditch, but her father had told her a lot about it as he had been Keeper for his house team at Hogwarts. From what he had told her it reminded her somehow of rugby, one of the sports she used to play in the muggle world, but as she saw the moving pictures of different Quidditch teams moving around in _Quality Quidditch Supplies_ she realized that it was a lot different as she had expected it to be. She was utterly fascinated how natural it seemed for the players to fly around on broomsticks like it was just part of their body. She had never had the chance to try it but she imagined it to be rather difficult, even more when you also had to concentrate on passing a ball. Moreover the brooms she discovered in that shop looked rather uncomfortable to sit on for hours, but she guessed there had to be some sort of spell to make them more comfortable. Wondering about all that Quidditch stuff made her realise again how less she actually knew about the wizarding world.

After she left the Quidditch shop she took out the supplies list for the coming term and scanned through the items again. She needed several books for her subjects, quill and parchment, school robes but first of all – money. So she went to Gringott's to take some money from her very own vault for the second time in her life. She had inherited a decent amount of money from her parents which would be more than enough to buy all her school supplies and even a broom – she came to fancy the idea of trying to ride one of them and was sure someone at Hogwarts would volunteer to show her how to do it. But she had to make sure to get her school supplies first. People kept throwing curious glances at her in almost every shop as she was asking some stupid questions usually only a first-year would, but after two more hours she'd finally bought everything she needed. Her arms were now loaded with tons of new books from Florish & Blotts, potions ingredients that rattled in their bag at the tiniest move of her arm, and a huge bag with her new school robes. For a few minutes she thought about just going back to her hotel, but she then decided she could no longer avoid taking a look at her once favourite shop. She expected to be immediately reminded of the amazing times she'd spent there, but when she went round the corner she realised with indignation that the now abandoned shop almost wasn't recognizable. The ones colourful windows, crammed with the most curious things she had ever seen, were covered in a thick layer of dust and were even damaged at some parts. With a deep sight she let herself fall on a bench opposite the shop. She let her mind drift back to the time she first passed the shop.

 _She had been standing in front of it, staring with her mouth open at the all those funny looking, colourful sweets with strange names like "Pukin Pastilles" or "Nosebleed Nougat", when suddenly someone tapped her on her left shoulder. "Do you need help? You look quite lost to be honest." a boy asked her. Her gaze met his eyes. They were a bit wrinkled at the outer ends because he was smiling at her, but what caught her most was the colour. She completely lost herself in the smooth dark brown that was occasionally interveined by amber lines whenever light fell upon them. "Excuse me? Do you speak English?", he asked again and she suddenly realized with a shock that she had just been staring at him without answering his question. She immediately felt her cheeks turning a shade of red and looked at the floor. "Ehm…Yes…Yes, of course. I mean…I'm sorry. Yes… Yes it would be great to get some help actually", she stammered. His smile broadened, which caught her even more than his eyes…_

"I wonder when they are going to sell that shop. It's been abandoned for some months now." Jane nearly jumped as she got drawn out of her thoughts by two elderly witches passing her bench and talking to each other. After their first pretty embarrassing meeting, they had spent a quite funny day walking through the various shops in Diagon Alley. She still remembered how her muscled had hurt afterwards due to all that laughing. She usually was quite a shy person, but somehow she had felt like he was just a long forgotten friends.

She finally took her bags, threw a last longing look at the shop and went back to her hotel. She'd spent one more week there before she'd take the Hogwarts Express from King's Cross Station, the main train station in London, which was also the location of the strange Platform 9 ¾. One more week to prepare herself for the year ahead and get accustomed to the new language, she'll be using.


	3. Hogwarts Express

**Hogwarts Express**

September 1st arrived sooner than Jane had expected. She had planned to spend the week doing some sightseeing in London, but the weather was so bad she had decided to stay in the hotel and try to revise some things she'd probably need for the coming year. All of the teachers had agreed to take her though she hadn't taken her O.W.L.s, though McGonagall said she'd still have the option to drop classes after the first two weeks if one of the teachers thought that she hadn't reached the level needed to proceed through the classes or onto the exams. She had decided to do her N.E.W.T.s in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Ancient Runes, Transfiguration, Care of Magical Creatures and Potions. To become a teacher she would have needed less N.E.W.T.s, but who knows if she would decide to take another job after she got accustomed to the wizarding world and its society. She felt comfortable with most of the subjects because her father had already taught her some of the stuff in the N.E.W.T. books for Hogwarts. Care of Magical Creatures made Jane feel quite unsure though, as she hadn't had the chance to see any real magical creatures at home. McGonagall had assured her that the teacher for that subject didn't mind that she had to start from the beginning.

So, today was the day where she'd start a big new part of her life. Her heart started pumping faster at the sheer thought of it. Even the thought of cancelling all of it occasionally popped up in her head, but Jane knew she would regret it terribly. After several more nervous looks on her watch she decided that it was finally safe to leave without having to wait at the train station for ages.

On the way to King's Cross she constantly kept checking her watch and the exact time on the ticket. If everything went as planned she'd be at the station way before the train departs, but she still wanted to have enough time to find the platform. Her parents had told her some funny stories about the muggle born students in their time who struggled every year with finding the hidden passageway between Platform 9 and 10. Who would think of running straight at a solid wall? She had checked her ticket several times to see if there really wasn't any kind of hint on how to get onto the platform with the unusual number 9 ¾ quarters because she still couldn't believe they really didn't give any explanation for muggle born. Maybe the teachers were hiding somewhere at the station having some fun watching the first-years? Jane just had to take a quick look at the signs in the entrance hall to find platforms 9 and 10, but even she got a bit nervous when thinking about the next step. It seemed like there were no other wizards around at the moment. What if she ran at the wrong wall? How should she even manage to approach the wall unseen by the muggles surrounding her? "They could have picked a day that was less busy", she thought while she tried to think of the best way to reach the specific wall. She saw her chance when another train was approaching at platform 9. The muggles at the platform started fumbling with their bags and suitcases so she grabbed her trolley with her trunk and confidently walked directly at it. With every step she gained speed, trying to keep her confidence. The moment the front of her trolley crossed the barrier, Jane instinctively closed her eyes as if she was expecting to crash. When she opened her eyes again her heart immediately started thumping faster at the view that was offered. The air was filled with steam, but you could still make out hundreds of people on the platform. Mothers shed a tear here and there when they said goodbye to their children; wishing them luck for their journey ahead. Children and teenagers looked around trying to find friends they hadn't seen in a year. Cries of joy filled the air. But what immediately caught her eye was the massive bright red steam lock, it's surface reflecting the streams of sunlight that fought their way through the clouds. She had to let all the impressions sink in before she finally tried to make her way through the crowd. She passed a lot of nervous looking first years on the way to the back of the train, which seemed less crowded. It seemed like all the older students had already entered the train, having already inherited the routine that comes with the years. Jane felt like she should rather join the first years than the N.E.W.T. students.

Walking along the train searching for a free seat even increased the feeling of being completely out of place. All other students were already settled in their compartments, laughing and chatting about their experiences during the summer years. It might even be that this time there had to be even more chatting, with all that had changed after the war had been won. A lot of students had had to learn to deal with new, sometimes dreadful situations, Jane suspected. That made her feel even more uncomfortable, if this was still possible. She too had lost loved ones in the war, but hardly anyone had known her parents and how could they know that her best friend had been one of the people killed in the battle of Hogwarts? As far as she knew they had never met any of his friends during her stay in London, nor did she think that he'd told anyone about her. She knew he hadn't told anyone about her as they had decided to keep it for themselves until they could meet again to see if their relationship even worked.

She still hadn't lost hope to find a completely empty compartment, but she was already walking past the last one without having had any luck.

"Hey, you!", someone shouted behind her, which made her jump right on the stop. She turned around, thinking that the guy must have mistaken her for some friend, but instead of looking confused, he was grinning broadly at her.

"Ehm, hi", Jane stammered, feeling like every knowledge of the English language she had, had vanished within seconds. "I'm new", she added clumsily.

"I know. That's why we wanted to ask you if you want to sit with us?", he asked, still grinning. She studied him for quite a while. His face was rather round-shaped, framed by blond hair. While speaking he occasionally ran his fingers through it, which gave her the feeling that he was as nervous as she was, revealing a little scar just above his right eye. A constant reminder of the battle of Hogwarts?

"Well? We don't bite", he urged on, still waiting for her answer. Jane still felt quite uncomfortable at the thought of joining one of the groups, but she will have to do it anyway during this year. So why not start making new friends now?

"Yes, I'd love to join you. Thank you!" She answered after the words finally had come back to her mind again.

Three other people were sitting in the compartment. Two girls, one with rather bushy brown hair, the other with straight red hair were looking at her curiously. The third girl didn't seem to recognize her at all. She was dreamily staring out of the window, her face almost completely hidden behind a curtain of long blonde hair. Jane awkwardly entered the compartment, feeling like every move of her would be watched by the two girls. She tried to manage a smile, but it looked more like a grimace. The boy, who had led her to the compartment closed the doors and stretched a hand in her direction.

"I'm Neville by the way", he said with a broad smile on his face.

"My name's Jane." Her voice came out as a whisper.

"And I'm Luna, nice to meet you." The blonde one was speaking to here, but it seemed like she was actually looking through her. "And those are Hermione and Ginny," she added casually. Jane knew, of course, who Hermione was and Ginny couldn't be mistaken for anyone else than a member of the Weasley family. Knowing that she would spend the journey with the people who were the most affected of the war made her feel even more uncomfortable, but there wasn't really a way out now.

"I haven't seen you before, so I guess you're not from England, aren't you?" Ginny eyed her suspiciously.

Jane didn't know where to start her explanation, but as she didn't want to bore them right away, she decided to go for the easiest version.

"I was born in England, but my family had to move to Austria 20 years ago," she explained. "I was educated at home, but now I'll do my N.E.W.T.s at Hogwarts".

"But then you're older than most of us. How come you haven't done it earlier?" Hermione asked.

"I didn't want to first, but then Fr…friend…a friend told me all about it, so I decided to give it a try." She hoped they would take her stammering for a little struggle with the language as she didn't want to give away too much at that point of time. Over the years she had learnt not to trust too early. And she especially didn't want to talk about her losses to people who had lost a lot more.

"I'm sure you'll love Hogwarts! I can show you around first thing tomorrow morning if you want?" Hermione said way more excited than Jane would have expected. How can she still be that happy?

"I don't know anyone here, so that would be really nice." Jane said, while playing with her necklace, which was her way of unconsciously showing nervousness. A certain calmness evolved inside her whenever her fingertips were following the outlines of the silver racoon. There wasn't a single place she went without it. It's been like a rock in the chaos Jane called her life.


End file.
